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Corman/Price
Double Feature
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Haunted
Palace
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7 |
Tower
Of London
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3 |
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In
its latest batch of Midnite Movie DVDs, MGM has included
a double feature of Roger Corman-Vincent Price collaborations
from the '60s, The Haunted Palace
and Tower Of London. While not
as fondly remembered as the classic House
Of Usher or Pit And The Pendulum,
Palace —
misleadingly given the "Edgar Allan Poe" imprimatur by AIP for
marketing reasons —
compares quite favorably to them. Tower,
a pseudo-remake of the 1939 Universal film of the same name,
is a well-intentioned but ultimately failed attempt at 'history'
as horror.
The
Haunted Palace: Despite
the proclamations of the film's poster and trailer, the script
is actually a loose adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's novella The
Case of Charles Dexter Ward. (The connection to Edgar Allan
Poe is a tenuous one at best... Star Vincent Price gives a voice-over
reading of a few snatches of Poe verse that have nothing at
all to do with the plot.) The opening scenes, set in the late
1700s, introduce us to the frightened townsfolk of Arkham, Massachusetts.
They live in mortal fear of one Joseph Curwen, the rich eccentric
who owns the ominous "palace" overlooking the village.
Curwen is suspected of being a warlock whose evil deeds include
raising the dead and conducting vile, unspeakable experiments
on various Arkham women he's placed under a spell. The citizens
form a torch-bearing mob and march on Curwen's estate to exact
vigilante justice. Curwen (Price) and his dark mistress Hester
(Cathie Merchant) are found at home with a young woman from
the village who seems to be in an hypnotic trance. Curwen is
dragged outside and bound to a tree to be burned alive. Before
his involuntary cremation he places a curse on the Arkhamites,
promising revenge against them and future generations of their
offspring. 110 years later a stranger arrives in Arkham: Charles
Dexter Ward (Price again), accompanied by his beautiful young
wife, Ann (Debra Paget). A descendant of the hated Curwen family,
Ward has come to assert his claim over the long-abandoned estate.
The villagers take an immediately dislike to him since he's
the spitting image of evil Joseph. They fear his appearance
in Arkham is the ultimate manifestation of the warlock's death-curse.
And they're right.
An old-fashioned
horror film in the best sense of the word, The
Haunted Palace is another Corman-helmed showcase for
Price's considerable presence as a gothic leading man. He's
eminently watchable in the dual role of the innocent, sensitive
Ward and his malignant ancestor, the sorcerer Curwen, who gradually
gains possession over Ward's mind and body from beyond the grave.
The same decayed, fogbound aesthetic used to such good effect
in Corman's earlier Poe films is on full display here, only
this time the script isn't limited to just three or four characters.
The inclusion of the villagers opens the tale up, occasionally
diverting the action away from the titular palace —
a marked departure from House of Usher
and Pit And The Pendulum, the events
of which all take place in a single location. The dashes of
Lovecraft used to flavor the script are most welcome... Curwen
is an acolyte of the "Elder Gods", Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth,
in possession of the dreaded Necronomicon; his curse
has fostered generations of bizarre mutations among the people
of Arkham (including webbed hands a la The Shadow Over Innsmouth);
he even keeps some kind of weird monster in a pit beneath the
palace. (One of the Elder Gods themselves?) Classic horror veteran
Lon Chaney Jr., in one of his last worthwhile roles, is also
on hand as the estate's sinister caretaker, Simon. (His decidedly
greenish-tinged skin should've given the Wards more pause...)
Alas, the long walking scenes (i.e., padding) that Corman so
often relies on in his movies slow the flick down at times and
some of the characters disappear during the finale without explanation.
But if you enjoy the AIP/Price/Poe films then you're guaranteed
to have a goosepimply good time with this one, too.
Tower
Of London: As Richard
III, the much-maligned usurper prince who supposedly murdered
his way to the English throne, Vincent Price is nothing less
than a king-size ham. That the script paints Richard as a psychopathic,
delusional madman apparently gave Vinnie license to cast off
any sense of restraint —
the venerable actor and beloved screen boogyman is way, way
over the top in a number of key scenes. His wild-eyed, rubber-faced
mugging is in turns embarrassing and unintentionally comical.
This is easily one of his most fey, campy performances... and
in a movie that does not call for it. This isn't a Dr. Goldfoot
flick, after all.
I'm not knocking
the film (or Price) because it's horseshit from a historical
standpoint —
so is Shakespeare's play (and it's a great play). The
film isn't badly directed by any means, nor is the script terrible.
The cast is populated by capable actors. The Corman version
of Tower Of London doesn't work
for two critical reasons: Price's aforementioned hammery and
the cheap-looking nature of the production. There simply wasn't
enough money to do this thing right. Shot in black and white
(against Corman's wishes) on castle/dungeon sets that are too
brightly lit, using the cheapest of special effects, the film
looks exactly like a TV series episode, not a theatrical release.
(I kept expecting the chrononauts from Time Tunnel to
pop in at any minute.) Corman was an absolute master of getting
the maximum results for a pittance but here his skills fail
him, apparently due mostly to circumstance. He could've done
something to rein in his Richard, however. Price serves
up more ham than the breakfast buffet at Shoney's.
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main treat offered by this DVD is the chance to finally see The
Haunted Palace
in its intended 2.35:1 aspect ratio. I'd caught the film once
before via a full-screen broadcast on AMC — the difference is
telling. Here, the full breadth of Corman's canvas isn't compromised.
And while not pristine, the transfers used for both films
are very, very good, representing the best these movies have ever
looked on home video. (Palace's is
anamorphically enhanced for 16x9 TVs; the 1.66:1 letterboxed print
of Tower is not.) The mono audio
mixes are crisp and full-sounding. Basically I have no complaints
or quibbles to report in terms of A/V quality.
And I wasn't expecting these 'lesser' Corman pictures to merit
featurettes but MGM has seen fit to do so. A Change of Poe
is an 11-minute interview of the always amiable Roger Corman describing
his concept for the film — Poe-like in tone and trappings but
still a break from the mold via the story's Lovecraftian milieux.
He also touches briefly on various aspects of the production,
such as Daniel Haller's set design (and talent for recycling),
working with Price and Chaney, Russell Stein's score and the mutant
makeup effects. In Producing Tower Of London (14 min.),
Corman gives a short introductory statement and then turns the
discussion over to brother (and Tower
producer) Gene, who focuses mainly on the hoops that were jumped
through getting the project off the ground and the surprise curve
balls faced once shooting started. (Like being told at the very
last minute that the picture would be black and white, not color
as they'd planned.) These docs may not be as informative than
some of the other featurettes produced for the Midnite Movie
line, but they admirably compliment the films and are a nice plus.
(Note: The original theatrical trailer for Haunted
Palace is also included.) 9/05/03 |
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